Improvement in car-brak-es



UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

CHARLES C. CLARK, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-BRAK-ES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 160,083, dated February23, I875; application filed January 22, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. CLARK, of Boston, Suffolk county,Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Brake- OperatingMechanism forRailway-Cars, of which the following is a specification:

This improvement relates to means whereby the driver, through the mediumof his foot, is enabled to apply or set the brakes by the weight of hisbody transmitted through or erected upon a pair of levers, arranged oneat wheels of the car at C C, &c., the axles at I) D, the housingssupporting the latter at E E, 850., and the brakes at F F, thecross-beam of such brakes being shown at G G, and the shoes or rubbersof such brakes at H, the said beams being suspended from the flooring byspring-rods I I, &c., and the whole being arranged in manner as nowgenerally practiced in the manufacture'of railway-cars of this class.

In carrying my invention into practice I employ two bent levers, J or J,of equal length, form, and power, such levers being composed ofa longbar, K, whose inner end terminates in two short arms, a 12, disposed oneupon each side of its fulcrum c, the said bar K being arrangedhorizontally below the flooring A, and pivoted by the fulcrum 0, beforenamed, to said flooring, as shown in Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing.The upper arm a of each lever J is pivoted to one end of a long rod, 01,by a pin-and-slot connection, e, the opposite end of said rod being inturn attached in an adjustable manner to the beam of that brake which ismost remote from the fulcrum of the lever to which the rod is attached.The lower arm b of each lever J is pivoted by a pin-and-slot connection,f, to

the inner end of a second rod, g, the outer end of this last-named rodbeing attached in an adjustable manner to the brake-beam nearest thefulcrum of the lever. The outer end of each lever or bar J is raised toits highest point by a spring, as shown at i, or by a weighted lever orany suitable device, and the outer extremity of each lever J is pivotedto the lower end of an upright bar or footrest, 1, which rises throughan aperture in the platform to such a height as will enable the driver,by depressing it, to apply the brakes, each foot-rest being formed uponits front edge with saw-teeth, which act in conjunction with a plate, m,aflixed to the platform to maintain the brakes in contact with thewheels and relieve the driver of the labor should the car be stopped forany length of time. The two levers J and their accessories areduplicates of each other, and are placed one at each platform, in orderthat the brakes may be applied at both ends of the car, and in orderthat if one should become useless the other will be available.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows: \Vhen a car is to bestopped the driver places his foot upon the bar or rest lnear him, andby applying his weight to such bar depresses the outer and free end ofthe lever J or J, and transmits this weight to each brake by the rods 01and 9, this movement of one set or pair of levers and connecting-rodshaving no effect upon the opposite set, owing to the pin-and-slotconnections a and f.

In order to lock each foot-rest l in its highest or inactive positionand guard against mischievous setting of the brakes, I dispose upon theupper side of each platform B B, and

immediately adjacent to each foot-rest, a thin 7 plate or dog, a, whichis confined to the platform in such manner as to be capable of a shortsliding movement thereupon, this dog being formed with an oblique step,0, which, when advanced, intercepts the foot-rest and enters a notch cuthorizontally in to such rest. By removing the dog a from contact withthe foot-rest the latter is left free to be depressed by a persons foot,but when the dog is pushed inward and intercepts the foot-rest thelatter is locked.

This form of brake mechanism is applicable to any class of horse-railwaycars, and may be applied to them very expeditiously and withoutrequiring alterations in them. It is simple and comparativelyinexpensive in construction, and not subject to disarrange- Inent.

I am aware that a treadle or lever adapted to be depressed by the foothas been used to operate a brake mechanism on railway-cars,

and this I do not claim, broadly.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

